A Summer in Harbin: Post the Fifth: The Fast and the Famished

Memorial to the people who built the southern bank of Songhua River in 1957 to stop flooding once and for all.

Time is flying here in Harbin. I've been a bit busier than I expected due to Chinese homework, restaurant exploring, and attempts at choreographing, though none of these can compare to yesterday's triumph in convincing the laundry machine that it likes me and should cooperate and wash my clothes and not instead try to eat all of my coins. Anyways, more thoughts!

On Saturday the 25th, CET organized a scavenger hunt for the students so we could explore around campus and in the heart of Harbin. We were asked to find/purchase/take pictures with people/items including (but not limited to) St. Sofia Church, a Chinese Walmart employee, a non-Harbin Chinese friend, and a shrink-wrapped chicken foot (bonus points for each group member that took a bite). The hunt took three and a half hours and we were super tired after all of it but it was a great introduction to the heart of Harbin. The German chocolate prize also helped.

Our victorious group outside of St. Sofia Cathedral, downtown Harbin. One should note that there are many duplicates of this photo circulating in China as at least three Chinese people stopped to take pictures of the foreigners in their midst.

Two teammates striking a tango pose with 羊肉串, otherwise known as roasted-lamb-on-a-stick.

Shrink-wrapped chicken foot! You know you want it!!

The food here is amazing. The cafeterias on campus are known throughout China for serving some of the best college food. The restaurants in the area all specialize in different cooking styles and have had years of experience to perfect their dishes. In addition to being delicious, food here is also SO CHEAP. Meals cost around $5 a day (yeah, be jealous). My only issue with food in China is that I don't know what anything is called so lunch and dinner often consists of me pointing at various food items and hoping they blend well together and/or asking random and bewildered strangers to tell me their favorite foods.

I eat lunch at the Special Flavored Food Gallery (Chinese name: 黑店, black market) everyday. I promise I haven't caught salmonella.

In addition to meals, fruit here is spectacular. Everyday after dinner a couple of friends and I visit the fruit man to buy yutao (or YOO TOWRRRR according to the fruit man that sells peaches, watermelons, and other unidentifiables out of his blue pick-up truck). Unclear how these yutao peaches will affect my health. On one hand, the peaches are undoubtedly covered in pesticides to keep them from being eaten by the monster bugs that exist in this province. Those probably aren't good for me - the peaches should be washed. On the other hand, does cleansing them in Chinese water make them better...or worse
Every summer from early June to late August Harbin features a beer festival where people gather outside (every day) to meet their friends (every day) and drink beer (every day) and eat roasted things on a stick (every day). These 啤酒园, or beer gardens, are social hubs at night where people can relax after a hard day's work. They are also great places to eat different types of once-alive-but-are-now-dead-and-tasty animals. I'll just go ahead and venture that eating a whole quail (head to foot) is quite delicious, if a bit crunchy.

More photos!